
We're raising our price targets on 5 stocks — and cutting our outlook on another
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: The S & P 500 is rallying to a new record high on Friday, though the index came off its best levels of the day after President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he has ended trade talks with Canada due to concerns about digital services taxes on U.S. tech companies. Still, it has been an exceptional week for the broader market. As tensions in the Middle East eased, oil prices plunged, interest rates declined, and stocks surged. Some of the biggest winners this week were in tech and AI -infrastructure related stocks. But the financials had an impressive week, too. We'll see the results of the Fed's annual stress test later Friday. Some Wall Street analysts expect Club name Wells Fargo to be among the biggest winners . Price target changes: We're making a handful of changes to our price targets on portfolio stocks. Apple : We are lowering our price target to $240 a share from $280 to reflect some of our recent concerns that a demand pull-forward from people buying iPhones ahead of tariffs could moderate sales in the quarters ahead. We've also expressed frustration about how Apple is allocating too much capital to stock buybacks, when those funds could be more effectively used to accelerate its lagging AI initiatives. Capital One Financial : We are increasing our price target to $250 from $210. As we talked about on Friday's Morning Meeting, the stock still trades at a huge discount to peer American Express , and maybe it shouldn't since Capital One now also operates a closed-loop network – meaning it issues its own cards and runs its own payment network, just like American Express. Based on 2026 earnings per share estimates, Capital One is trading at an 11 multiple while AXP trades at 18. We're not arguing for parity, necessarily. But if Capital One re-rates to 13 times earnings, still a five-turn discount to American Express, as it proves the benefits of the Discover deal, then we're talking about stock trading at about $250 based on the consensus earnings per share estimate of $19.32. CrowdStrike : We are nudging up our price target to $520 from $500. This higher price target reflects the higher price-to-earning multiple the best of breed cybersecurity companies continue to deserve in the market. Although we are raising our price target, we remain mindful of the run the stock has had this year. This was the main reason why we trimmed this position earlier in the week. GE Vernova : We are increasing our price target to $550 from $500. GE Vernova's valuation may look stretched, but the stock keeps powering higher due to the heavy investment needed to power AI data centers around the world. The robust demand for the company's gas turbines and electric grid solutions should translate to strong pricing power for many years. The company remains a potential winner from future trade deals and should benefit from the Trump administration's push to boost energy supply to power AI. Goldman Sachs : We are increasing our price to $725 from $615. We continue to see Goldman Sachs as one of the biggest beneficiaries of an improving initial public offering market, as well as an increase in mergers-and-acquisitions activity. The big banks could also get a boost from looser regulations , as we wrote Thursday. Meta Platforms : We are raising our price target to $800 from $700. A pair of separate bullish analysts raised their Meta price target above $800 this week, and we want to be right there with them because the social media giant has been one of the best at using AI to generate more revenue. Next week: There are no companies in the portfolio scheduled to report earnings next week. On the data side, it will be a jobs-week, which means we'll see the ADP employment report Wednesday morning, as well as the all-important nonfarm payroll report. The jobs report will be on Thursday, not the usual Friday, because the market is closed on July 4 in observation of Independence Day. A few other key data reports are the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing and services activity indexes for the month of June. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US inflation edges up as Trump renews criticism of Fed chief
The US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure logged a mild uptick Friday while spending weakened, triggering another tirade by President Donald Trump against the central bank chair for not cutting interest rates sooner. "We have a guy that's just a stubborn mule and a stupid person," Trump told an event at the White House, referring to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. "He's making a mistake." With Powell's term as Fed chief coming to an end next year, Trump hinted at his choice of successor: "I'm going to put somebody that wants to cut rates." The president's remarks came after government data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbing 2.3 percent last month from a year ago in May. This was in line with analyst expectations and a slight acceleration from April's 2.2 percent increase, but still a relatively mild uptick. Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the PCE price index was up 2.7 percent, rising from April's 2.6 percent uptick, the Commerce Department's report showed. But consumer spending declined, after Trump's fresh tariffs in April dragged on consumer sentiment. PCE dropped by 0.1 percent from the preceding month, reversing an earlier rise. While Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners since returning to the White House in January -- alongside higher rates on imports of steel, aluminum and autos -- these have had a muted effect so far on inflation. This is in part because he held off or postponed some of his harshest salvos, while businesses are still running through inventory they stockpiled in anticipation of the levies. But central bank officials have not rushed to slash interest rates, saying they can afford to wait and learn more about the impact of Trump's recent duties. They expect to learn more about the tariffs' effects over the summer. - 'Clear weakening' - "The experience of the limited range of tariffs introduced in 2018 suggests that pass-through to consumer prices is intense three-to-six months after their implementation," warned economists Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen of Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note. They flagged weakness in consumer spending, in part due to a pullback in autos after buyers rushed to get ahead of levies. And spending on services was tepid even after excluding volatile components, they said. "There has also been a clear weakening in discretionary services spending, notably in travel and hospitality," said Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, in a note. This reflects "the chilling effect of the plunge in consumer sentiment," he added. Between April and May, the PCE price index was up 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department report showed. As a July deadline approaches for higher tariff rates to kick in on dozens of economies, all eyes are also on whether countries can reach lasting trade deals with Washington to ease the effects of tariffs. For now, despite the slowing in economic growth, Pearce said risks that inflation could increase will keep the Fed on hold with interest rates "until much later in the year." bys/jgc Sign in to access your portfolio


New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Encourages Powell to Resign in Latest Attack on the Fed Chair
President Trump continued his assault on the chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday, saying he would like Jerome H. Powell to resign. The president, who has berated Mr. Powell for weeks, called the chair a 'stubborn mule' who has 'Trump derangement syndrome' for his refusal to immediately lower borrowing costs. 'I'd love for him to resign if he wanted to,' the president told reporters in the Oval Office. Such attacks have become a mainstay in Mr. Trump's second term in the White House. The president, who elevated Mr. Powell to Fed chair during his first term, has spent the past few weeks castigating him for not moving quickly enough to cut interest rates. Mr. Trump has long been a fan of low interest rates, which make it cheaper for businesses and consumers to borrow and in turn fuel growth. He cajoled Mr. Powell during his first term when he thought the Fed chair was taking too long to lower rates. But Mr. Trump's interest in lower borrowing costs has taken on more significance this time around. He is pushing Republican lawmakers to approve an expensive tax-cut package that would require the United States to sell large sums of debt to finance it. That goal has become harder — and more expensive — given that interest rates remain elevated in a range of 4.25 to 4.5 percent. Mr. Trump has argued that the government would save 'billions' if the Fed lowered interest rates, calling for as much as an immediate 2.5-percentage-point decline. 'We have a guy that's just a stubborn mule and a stupid person that is making a big mistake,' the president said on Friday. The country is paying more to service its debts 'because we have a guy who's suffering from Trump derangement syndrome, if you want to know the truth,' he added. 'He's not good for our country.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


CNBC
35 minutes ago
- CNBC
Jim Cramer is not giving up on Apple. Here's why
CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday told investors that he's still pulling for Apple, even as its stock lags behind the averages. "If Apple can shake off its current shroud of negativity — maybe they make nice with President Trump somehow — I could justify paying 35 times earnings for the stock," he said. "Which is why I'm simply not ready to give up on this one." Cramer said he understands the current lack of enthusiasm for the iPhone maker. President Donald Trump is slapping steep tariffs on China, where Apple does the majority of its manufacturing. Trump has also said the company would have to pay a tariff of 25% or more if it were to make smartphones anywhere outside the U.S. — thwarting Apple's plans to dodge the new regulations by moving manufacturing to India. Some analysts have said domestic manufacturing would raise the cost of an iPhone by at least 25%, with one estimating a U.S. iPhone could sell at $3,500. Apple's recent Worldwide Developers Conference didn't "yield anything groundbreaking," Cramer continued, especially related to artificial intelligence. The tech titan also gave "tepid" guidance when it reported earnings last month, he added, and some on Wall Street are concerned as litigation regarding the App Store continues. However, Cramer said he's willing to stick with the company despite this uncertainty. He said he has faith in CEO Tim Cook, adding that tough times for Apple in the past have always proven to be great buying opportunities in hindsight. He reviewed the stock's performance over the past several years, noting that it has rallied hard after hitting bottoms. Cramer also said it's important to avoid looking at Apple's price-to-earnings multiple in a vacuum, saying investors should factor in its earnings growth rate. Money managers will pay up for growth, he continued, and he said Apple is expected to put up 14% earnings growth in the current calendar year. Meanwhile, he added, the S&P 500 as a whole is set to grow at a 9.4% clip. "There's clearly a point where Apple's stock becomes too cheap to ignore, and recent history says that's around 25 times earnings…that means down about 20 points from here," Cramer said. "I certainly don't want to see it revisit that level….but if for some reason the stock gets clobbered, you know what, let's back up the truck at $180." Click here to download Jim Cramer's Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Apple.